Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
The Go Masters
TITLE DETAILS

The Go Masters

1982-04-01 · 123 min · ★ 6.6

Drama

Ten years before the outbreak of the Second World War in Asia, a Japanese Go master and his Chinese rival meet in China to play a game of Go (loosely described as an Asian version of chess). It soon becomes evident that the Chinese master's son is the most talented player that the Japanese master has ever encountered, and he convinces the boy's father to let him bring the child back to Japan to train him as a professional Go player. Years pass, and as the young Chinese master grows to maturity in Japan, the Japanese invasion of China forces him to choose between his triumphant career and his loyalty to his native country. His decision is complicated by his marriage to the daughter of the Japanese master, with whom he has produced a child. His choice will profoundly alter the lives of two families. Their saga serves as a reflection of the tragic relations between their two great countries, and the possibility of reconciliation and healing.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Duan Jishun, Junya Satō
Production companies
Unavailable
Countries
Japan, China
Status
Released

Top Cast

Rentaro MikuniRentaro Mikuni松波麟作
Misako KonnoMisako Konno巴
Daolin SunDaolin Sun况易山
Shen GuanchuShen Guanchu况阿明
Shen DanpingShen Danping阿惠
Mayumi OgawaMayumi Ogawa杨夫人
Huang ZongyingHuang Zongying婉怡
Keiko MatsuzakaKeiko Matsuzaka立花
Du Peng关小舟
Yu ShaokangYu Shaokang张医生
Yoshiko MitaYoshiko Mita忍
Nobuko OtowaNobuko Otowa
Liu XinLiu Xin小阿惠
Hideji ŌtakiHideji Ōtaki
Zhang LiweiZhang Liwei留学生

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Bushido
★ 7.4
Bushido2024Drama

Kakunoshin, renowned for his skills with a sword and in the game of go, embodies the samurai code. Falsely accused of a theft, he is forced to become a lowly ronin. Years later, when a case of missing gold pulls him into a new web of intrigue, Kakunoshin uncovers the truth behind his downfall. With the real culprit exposed, the go board flips, and a hellstorm of righteous vengeance follows.

The Joy Luck Club
★ 7.2
The Joy Luck Club1993Drama

Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.

Tigertail
★ 6.7
Tigertail2020Drama

A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

All Day and a Night
★ 6.3
All Day and a Night2020Drama

While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.

Wife of a Spy
★ 6.7
Wife of a Spy2020Drama

It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.

The Young One
★ 7.0
The Young One1960Drama

A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

I Never Sang for My Father
★ 6.7
I Never Sang for My Father1970Drama

A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.

What Maisie Knew
★ 7.1
What Maisie Knew2013Drama

In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.

Skin
★ 6.4
Skin2009Drama

Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Goal!
★ 6.8
Goal!2005Drama

Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.

Beast
★ 7.5
Beast2026Drama

MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.

Moving
★ 7.5
Moving1993Drama

Physically separated from her father and at odds with her distraught mother, a girl must negotiate her own passage to maturity.

Waiting for Anya
★ 6.3
Waiting for Anya2020Drama

During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
★ 6.2
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny2016Drama

A story of lost love, young love, a legendary sword and one last opportunity at redemption.

Home Run
★ 6.2
Home Run2013Drama

A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team

F.I.S.T.
★ 6.5
F.I.S.T.1978Drama

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.

Salomé
★ 6.1
Salomé2013Drama

After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.

Yojimbo
★ 8.1
Yojimbo1961Drama

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Hungry Hearts
★ 6.5
Hungry Hearts2015Drama

The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.

The Trials of Cate McCall
★ 6.4
The Trials of Cate McCall2013Drama

In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

Similar titles

Tokyo Newcomer
★ 4.6
Tokyo Newcomer2012Drama

A young Chinese Go board game player arrives in Japan for training. He doesn't speak Japanese and becomes embarrassed living there. By dropping his Go stones, he happens to meet an old Japanese woman who sells vegetables on the street. They become familiar with each other. The young Chinese Go player, the old woman named Igarashi and her grandson Shoichi then live together.

The Stone
★ 6.0
The Stone2014Drama

A gang boss Nam-hae meets a young Go player Min-su, who rekindles his interest in the game. Despite his outstanding talent, Min-su has been wasting his days as a gambler without pursuing a real career out of it. Nam-hae orders his second in command to persuade Min-su and Min-su becomes Nam-hae’s private Go tutor. In learning Go from Min-su, Nam-hae looks back on his own life. While Min-su discovers the coarse masculine underworld, the meaning of life and true victory through Nam-hae. However, when Nam-hae’s competition starts to expand their territory, Nam-hae is forced into a path to destruction.

Affection
★ 6.0
Affection2017Drama

The story is told from the point of view of a high school girl called Jessie (Jessica Wong) whose talent for the Chinese board game Go has earned her the nickname ‘Queen Chess’. She balances her time between practising Go and hanging out with her boyfriend (Yau Hawk-sau Neo). The former seems to win for this studious girl, but it is clear she’s also seeking something to pull her out of this lonely life of late-night computer games.

The Go Master
★ 6.5
The Go Master2007Drama

The life of Go master Wu Qingyuan from his meteoric rise as a child prodigy to fame and fortune as a revolutionary strategic thinker, as well as the tumultuous conflicts between his homeland of China and his adopted nation of Japan.

Bushido
★ 7.4
Bushido2024Drama

Kakunoshin, renowned for his skills with a sword and in the game of go, embodies the samurai code. Falsely accused of a theft, he is forced to become a lowly ronin. Years later, when a case of missing gold pulls him into a new web of intrigue, Kakunoshin uncovers the truth behind his downfall. With the real culprit exposed, the go board flips, and a hellstorm of righteous vengeance follows.

The I-Go King and His Son
★ 0.0
The I-Go King and His Son2007Drama

When LIU Yishou, nicknamed the "Go King" by his peers because of his skill in Weiqi (Go), finds himself without a job. And with no other skills to make a living, he then turns to teaching this strategic Chinese board game in a humble training school for children. Annoyed by her husband's passion for the game, LIU Yishou's wife leaves him, but their son, Xiao Chuan, wants to stay with his dad. Unexpectedly, LIU Yishou discovers that his son has a great talent for playing Weiqi and vows to support him in developing his gift for the game. A struggle then arises for the Go King to come up with the money to finance his son's studies of Weiqi.

The Match
★ 7.2
The Match2025Drama

When a legendary Go master loses his title to a one-time friend and protégé, he sets out to reclaim it in a high-stakes battle of wits and skill.

AlphaGo
★ 7.7
AlphaGo2017

The ancient Chinese game of Go has long been considered a grand challenge for artificial intelligence. Yet in 2016, Google's DeepMind team announced that they would be taking on Lee Sedol, the world's most elite Go champion. AlphaGo chronicles the team as it prepares to test the limits of its rapidly-evolving AI technology. The film pits man against machine, and reveals as much about the workings of the human mind as it does the future of AI.

The Divine Move
★ 6.7
The Divine Move2014

A professional GO player gathers a team to help him carry out his revenge against the man who killed his brother.

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story
★ 6.2
Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story2010

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story shows how the classic board game has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon and follows the colorful players who come together to compete for the coveted title of Monopoly World Champion.

Go Through the Dark
Not rated
Go Through the Dark2021

Guanglin is a blind boy in China who displays great skill at the ancient board game called Go, in which two players place black and white pieces on a grid in an attempt to dominate their opponent. Raised by a single father with limited means, Guanglin faces deep societal prejudice against the blind. First-time filmmaker Yunhong Pu, supported by veteran producer Jean Tsien (76 Days), follows the father and son trying to make a better future for themselves.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Weiqi Wonders: Conversations about the Game of Go in China

Weiqi, often referred to as "Go" in English, is arguably the most important game in East Asia, with an estimated thirty million to fifty million players throughout the world. Weiqi is a board game but it is more. It is immersed in more vivid and often contradictory cultural metaphors than any other game in the world. As Chinese politics have changed over the last two millennia, so too has the imagery of the game—from a tool to seek religious enlightenment to military metaphors, one of the noble four arts, one of the condemned “four olds”, nationalism, transnationalism, historical elitism, and futuristic hyper rationality.

The Surrounding Game
★ 7.4
The Surrounding Game2017

Born from the simplest rules, the ancient game of Go is the most complex and elegant game ever discovered. For thousands of years, masters and disciples have passed the game down as a window to the human mind. Now, for the first time, a group of Americans enter the ring, in search of a prodigy who will change the game forever.

The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful
★ 7.0
The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful2019

In the 1990s, when Go gambling fever swept Korea, Gui-su loses everything because his father gambled obsessively until there was nothing left. Left all alone in the world, Gui-su meets a mentor and Go teacher, Il-do, and goes through vicious training to become the grandmaster of Go. He sets out for revenge on the world that destroyed his life, but soon finds himself chased by an unknown loner pursuing his own vendetta.

Between Friends
★ 7.0
Between Friends1973Drama

An ex-con, his daughter and her two friends plan the elaborate heist of a nickel mine in Northern Ontario.

Georgia, Georgia
★ 6.0
Georgia, Georgia1972Drama

A singer whose companion hates whites falls for a white U.S. photographer in Sweden.

Angela – Love Comes Quietly
★ 5.4
Angela – Love Comes Quietly1973Drama

The story of a free-spirited girl who was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the 1920s, even the somewhat more tolerant people of the Netherlands (relative to the rest of Europe) did not easily suffer the open flouting of the rules of society. Cheerful and optimistic, Angela (Barbara Hershey) defied the conventions of her conservative Dutch family by traipsing about the countryside with her lover, living on what turned up each day. However, even for the sunniest of optimists such an idyll can have tragic consequences.

Long Live the Island Frogs
★ 8.0
Long Live the Island Frogs1972Drama

A husband-wife teaching team arrive on isolated Sachi Island. They try to start a school against the opposition of the islanders. To attract students, they organize athletic teams from the island children and promise that they will win the national competitions... a promise they may not be able to keep.

U-Turn
★ 4.1
U-Turn1973Drama

In this Canadian romance, Scott (David Selby) was so smitten by the looks of a pretty girl that he spends years looking for her. He keeps his searches a secret from his live-in lover, whom he stays with the entire while. When Scott actually meets the girl, he discovers that she has been similarly motivated, even though she is married and has had two children in the meantime. They share a romantic assignation and discover that the ideal figure they were each searching for is absent.

The East Wind
★ 9.0
The East Wind1975Drama

Set in the mid-1950s when Tangier was still an international zone, El Chergui presents the city on the eve of its independence, as Aïcha resorts to magical practices to try to prevent her husband from taking a second wife. Around her, a society of women creates its own form of active resistance even as the larger independence movement grows around it. Through his unique use of montage, Smihi creates arresting images that present a society torn by the contradictions of colonialism, religion, patriarchy, and resistance. (Block Cinema)

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.